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[Mr Skrunts]

Now that Orange and T Mobile have merged to improve thier signal coverage I thought there might be an improvement.  Well there is - sometimes

I was an Orange subscriber and often only got 1 bar signal strength during the day, if anything at all at other times.  Now 1st thing in a morning I have maximum bars showing and both networks showing thir logo, Then as the world comes to life the signal strength dies.

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

Also does any one know of any maps that might show the best coverage for a possitive signal all day long by just adding a post code to a map.

TIA.   

[rikki_essex]

I keep getting the same thing when it was just orange i got signal pretty much every where i needed now it keep dropping out and i cant call any one or recieve calls.

[Mysteryman]

Now that Orange and T Mobile have merged to improve thier signal coverage I thought there might be an improvement.  Well there is - sometimes

I was an Orange subscriber and often only got 1 bar signal strength during the day, if anything at all at other times.  Now 1st thing in a morning I have maximum bars showing and both networks showing thir logo, Then as the world comes to life the signal strength dies.

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

Also does any one know of any maps that might show the best coverage for a possitive signal all day long by just adding a post code to a map.

TIA.   

If you look at the small print at the bottom of the ad they are running, it says, something like '2G network only'

[Kevin Wood]

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

If it's a 3G network then yes, possibly, because the transmitter output of the base station is shared between active channels so the quality degrades the more channels are active.

For a 2G network, less so because it reports the signal strength of the broadcast channel from the base station which is normally at a constant power level.

There is always the possibility that the network is being reconfigured dynamically to cope with load. Your mobile might even be selecting a different base station at certain times of the day as a result.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

Now that Orange and T Mobile have merged to improve thier signal coverage I thought there might be an improvement.  Well there is - sometimes

I was an Orange subscriber and often only got 1 bar signal strength during the day, if anything at all at other times.  Now 1st thing in a morning I have maximum bars showing and both networks showing thir logo, Then as the world comes to life the signal strength dies.

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

Also does any one know of any maps that might show the best coverage for a possitive signal all day long by just adding a post code to a map.

TIA.   

Remember that the 2 networks that make up Everything Everywhere are joined via a roaming system, not one that picks whichever is strongest. That is an important distinction.

So if the home network is T-Mobile, and you have a weak T-Mobile signal, that what you'll get, even if you're stood by an Orange 3G base station. Its only when you lose T-Mobile will it flick to Orange.

[TheBoy]

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

If it's a 3G network then yes, possibly, because the transmitter output of the base station is shared between active channels so the quality degrades the more channels are active.

For a 2G network, less so because it reports the signal strength of the broadcast channel from the base station which is normally at a constant power level.

There is always the possibility that the network is being reconfigured dynamically to cope with load. Your mobile might even be selecting a different base station at certain times of the day as a result.

Kevin

Don't most networks vary this with load, so as to dynamically reduce its coverage if a particular cell is busy, pushing service to adjacent cells?

[Kevin Wood]

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

If it's a 3G network then yes, possibly, because the transmitter output of the base station is shared between active channels so the quality degrades the more channels are active.

For a 2G network, less so because it reports the signal strength of the broadcast channel from the base station which is normally at a constant power level.

There is always the possibility that the network is being reconfigured dynamically to cope with load. Your mobile might even be selecting a different base station at certain times of the day as a result.

Kevin

Don't most networks vary this with load, so as to dynamically reduce its coverage if a particular cell is busy, pushing service to adjacent cells?

I doubt they'd reduce the power level. There are other parameters that can be used to influence the mobile's decision (i.e. effectively increasing the threshold where the mobile starts to reselect).

I don't get that involved in how real networks are operated, though, so there may be other tricks.

Kevin

[sierrapaul]

at the end of the day its becouse there both crap.i never had a good signal when was with either of them and there cust service is bad.im with 02 now and get a good signal everywhere.a mate of mine says alot of it is down to what fone you have aswell.nokia are ment to be bad unless ur close to a mast

[TheBoy]

Does the quality of the signal strength depend on how active the network is?

If it's a 3G network then yes, possibly, because the transmitter output of the base station is shared between active channels so the quality degrades the more channels are active.

For a 2G network, less so because it reports the signal strength of the broadcast channel from the base station which is normally at a constant power level.

There is always the possibility that the network is being reconfigured dynamically to cope with load. Your mobile might even be selecting a different base station at certain times of the day as a result.

Kevin

Don't most networks vary this with load, so as to dynamically reduce its coverage if a particular cell is busy, pushing service to adjacent cells?

I doubt they'd reduce the power level. There are other parameters that can be used to influence the mobile's decision (i.e. effectively increasing the threshold where the mobile starts to reselect).

I don't get that involved in how real networks are operated, though, so there may be other tricks.

Kevin

That was what I was lead to believe by Vodafone when I moaned constantly about no signal.  Still, their tech peeps were probably the same CS staff I spoke to before sitting on hold for hours

My issue was resolved with an O2 SIM

[TheBoy]

at the end of the day its becouse there both crap.i never had a good signal when was with either of them and there cust service is bad.im with 02 now and get a good signal everywhere.a mate of mine says alot of it is down to what fone you have aswell.nokia are ment to be bad unless you are close to a mast

As a general rule of thumb, 'phones' = good signal, smartphones = poor signal.

Still reckon the best phone ever made was the Nokida 6310i

[tunnie]

its not automatically going to work, you need to enable it:

http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/support/personal/519385?embedded=false

Its also only for 2G currently, Orange customers are planned to get 3G, but if your on T-Mobile, it will only be 2G

[pscocoa]

I have been getting better results with following (As Tunnie says) Orange/T mobile activation - I had to phone to get it set up a couple of minths ago.

I think also there may  be a setting for 2G/3G option i.e. phone chooses which is best.

If I get a problem I switch to 2G temporarily

[cem_devecioglu]

at the end of the day its becouse there both crap.i never had a good signal when was with either of them and there cust service is bad.im with 02 now and get a good signal everywhere.a mate of mine says alot of it is down to what fone you have aswell.nokia are ment to be bad unless you are close to a mast

As a general rule of thumb, 'phones' = good signal, smartphones = poor signal.

Still reckon the best phone ever made was the Nokia 6310i

agreed..  6310 was really a good phone.. and I never worried it will drop down or stolen..

and for carrying internet in pocket I pay 2 different internet bills,  because 3g signal weak in home

between 19-21 pm 3g becomes nearly useless as too many users are online :-/

[Taxi_Driver]

at the end of the day its becouse there both crap.i never had a good signal when was with either of them and there cust service is bad.im with 02 now and get a good signal everywhere.a mate of mine says alot of it is down to what fone you have aswell.nokia are ment to be bad unless you are close to a mast

As a general rule of thumb, 'phones' = good signal, smartphones = poor signal.

Still reckon the best phone ever made was the Nokida 6310i

And to prove the point.....i picked a customer up in the sticks today.....wasnt really sure if i was in the right place....so i called him....i was and in a few secs he was in my car.....he asked what network i was on....it turned out to be the same network....he was suprised as he gets no signal on his mobile outside his house (he has a booster inside the house and just gets one bar)
I was getting 4 bars of signal strength to his no signal.....my  phone....a cheap nokia 2330.....his phone....expensive 'smartphone' 

[Mr Skrunts]

It's only for for calls.  I can sit in bed at 7am and have all the bars, by 9am I struggle to see 2 bars.

During the day sometimes none at all, somtimes 1 bar, maybe 2.  Wierd, as I sit on my bed in the same place all the time when I access the PC on the bedroom.  Just cant believe how much the signal varies in exactly the same,

Also noticed that txt's were taling ages to send  Have set the phone to send me a delivery report, and they were pathetically slow on that service this afternoon.